1 Armenia is a country with a troubled history. For hundreds of years, the people of Armenia were without a home. That's because for much of its history, Armenia existed only as a part of nearby countries or empires. It's been only recently (in the last 10 years or so) that Armenia has existed as a truly unified and independent country.2 The history of the Armenian people stretches back about 8,000 years. The first people to settle in the area of Armenia in eastern-central Asia arrived around 6,000 BC. The first government in the area was the kingdom of Urartu, which governed the area around Lake Van in the 13th century BC. The Urartu kingdom fell a few hundred years later, and came under rule of the Persians. In 30 BC, the Roman Empire conquered Armenia, and less than 100 years later, the Parthians took Armenia from Rome.3 During the early 4th century, Armenia accepted Christianity as its official religion. This gave Armenia more in common with the countries of Europe than its closer neighbors, many of whom were and are Muslim nations. In fact, this newly Christian nation found itself under Arab Muslim rule in the 7th century. The Arabs set up the Bagratid family as governors of Armenia.4 Armenian culture grew under two of the Bagratid kings of Armenia—Ashot I and Ashot III. Art and literature flourished. However, this time of peace and prosperity wouldn't last long. By the 11th century, Armenia was again at the center of international struggle. During the 11th century, Greeks from the west and Turks from the east invaded Armenia. European Christians used the new Armenian state, Cicilian Armenia, as a base to fight the region's Muslims. In the 16th century, Armenia fell to the Ottoman Turks, who ruled Armenia for almost 400 years.